Pope Francis to cardinals: Don't cede to 'pessimism'

Mar. 15, 2013
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Pope Francis. / AP

by Marco della Cava, USA TODAY

by Marco della Cava, USA TODAY

ROME -- An animated and impassioned Pope Francis addressed the entire College of Cardinals in an ornate Vatican hall Friday, looking very much like the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics but sounding like a local priest addressing his flock.

Sitting on a massive gold and red throne and dressed all in white, a smiling Francis implored his audience to "not cede to the bitterness and pessimism that the devil offers us every day." Instead, the church must "find new ways to spread the word of God to every corner of the world."

The word that spread Friday was of Pope Francis' actions during Argentina's "dirty war" between 1976 and 1983, when the ruling military government abused and killed countless citizens suspected of being Communists.

At issue is whether Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then a young priest in his 30s, did enough to stand up to the junta, and specifically whether he was complicit in allowing two Jesuit priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics, to be apprehended and tortured for five months.

Yorio is deceased, but Jalics, 85, told the Associated Press on Friday that he had a chance to discuss the event "years later" with Bergoglio. "Following that, we celebrated Mass publicly together and hugged solemnly. I am reconciled to the events and consider the matter to be closed," he told the AP.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Thomas Rosica responded with his own translation of Jalics' German comments. The wording differed only slightly in the lone forgiving yet not wholly exonerating phrase: "I have made my peace with these events and, as far as I am concerned, the case is closed."

Dismissing the case against Pope Francis as "well-known" and "anti-clerical," Rosica said the pontiff doesn't consider this "a concrete or credible accusation in his regard. He was questioned by an Argentinian court as someone aware of the situation but never as a defendant. He has, in documented form, denied any accusations."

Rosica added that "there have been many declarations demonstrating how much Bergoglio did to protect many persons at the time of the military dictatorship."

Although the long-ago matter is likely to continue to stir debate, blogger Andrew Sullivan argued that Jalics' statement "doesn't exactly exonerate Bergoglio ... but when the victim has reconciled with the alleged violator, and considers the matter closed, we can look forward rather than back."

Pope Francis certainly was looking forward at Friday's gathering, the first in a series of formal events that are meant to help the new pope and his followers replace in their minds Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, with Pope Francis, the world's first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff.

On Sunday, the pope will address and bless a crowd in St. Peter's Square; next Tuesday is his official installation mass, which will be attended by global leaders including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

But despite the formality of the moment and setting, Francis, 78, continued to display the warmth and approachability that have marked his life as a cardinal. When speaking, he often leaned forward in his throne and waved his hands. He almost never stopped smiling, and became even more jovial when he finished his speech and greeted the cardinals one by one.

"The new pope is an astonishing figure, a return to the church's roots" and comparable to the likeable but short-lived John Paul I, whose papacy lasted 33 days in 1978, said Paolo Rodari, a Vatican beat reporter for Rome's La Repubblica.

"It's too early to know how successful he'll be, but I will say that he is being himself," he said. "This is the real man we are seeing."

Rodari added that "in the congregations leading up to the conclave, he spoke about the need to 'purify' the church. Evidently, that resonated with the cardinals. (In 2005, when he was runner-up to Joseph Ratzinger), he told his fellow cardinals not to vote for him, and it would not surprise me if he did the same this time. It may have been just that, that he didn't want to become pope, that made him an attractive candidate."

During the talk, Pope Francis thanked his former peers, who were dressed in contrasting black robes with red skull caps, for electing him. He also offered "profound thanks to my predecessor," the recently retired pope emeritus, Joseph Ratzinger. Pope Francis is expected to make a trip in the coming days to the papal retreat of Castel Gandolfo to visit the first pope to resign in 600 years.

The lightest moment of the half-hour event came when Francis noted that "maybe half of us are in old age, which I consider to be the seat of wisdom. We've walked the path of life." Many of the cardinals smiled.

"Let's give this wisdom to the young, (we are like) good wine that improves with age," he said, then referred to a favorite quote from a German poet who wrote that "old age is a time for tranquility and prayer. Let's pass that on."

Italian television news shows -- which had been all Pope, all the time -- switched gears Friday to a renewed focus on the country's considerable political crisis. Recently parliamentary elections, which included a winning comedian candidate, gave no one party a clear mandate and the resulting stalemate threatens the continent's ever-present fiscal woes.

But that pressing subject didn't stop TV anchors from running in an endless loop a clip of an elderly Argentine woman identified only as Amalia.

Interviewed standing behind a gate, she describes how her dates with a young Jorge Bergoglio eventually led to a letter in which he wrote, "If you don't marry me, I'll become a priest." The woman adds that her mother discovered the note. The rest is history.